12 & Holding

Starring: Conor Donovan, Jesse Camacho, & Zoe Weizenbaum

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

With his utterly shocking debut film, L.I.E., Director Michael Cuesta, quickly proved that he wasn't afraid to push the envelope in order to shock his audience. That is why I was hesitant to see his other coming-of-age film, 12 & Holding. Thankfully, this film was more on the level and told a different kind of story, one that larger audiences can relate to. Rudy Carges (Conor Donovan) is an introverted 12 year old boy, who because of a facial deformity, does not socialize outside of his small circle of friends. A circle which includes a strong leader and protector, his twin brother, Jacob. One summer night, a bullies prank goes horribly wrong and Jacob is killed, leaving the group to find their own direction. As someone who recently lost someone close to me, this film really hit home, it was inspirational and a truly a wake up call. The film does an excellent job of showing everyone's grief from the family, right down to the furthest acquaintance, the type of lose and emptiness that people of all ages feel when a tragedy like this occurs, but then the film takes a turn. The three remaining members of the group realize, at their young age, that life is short and you never know what's going to happen, so they use the tragedy as the inspiration to turn their lives in another direction. Conor Donovan stars and it is miraculous that at his age he could play two completely different characters with such ease. The twins are so different, even though they are played by the same person. This is the kind of performance, actors three times his age can't pull off successfully, but Donovan does and it makes the whole film. Because of this role, the young Donovan actually got a role in the Departed, but hasn't been in much since then, which is truly a shame. 12 & Holding, actually uses actors that are the same age as their characters, and what these kids had to play through, and how they did so was truly phenomenal. IFC films have a reputation for being great, hard hitting stories, but this one really struck a nerve and the performances blew me away. If that's not the definition of a must see movie, than I don't know what is.